Giving thanks to Allah in abundance

Allah says in the Quran: “If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you”(http://quran.com/14/7). A scholar once told me that if one looks into this verse, the Arabic word that is used to confirm that Allah Wills favours unto the person who thanks Him is actually in the form of an Oath – “La azidannakum”. So Allah is promising the person who thanks Him an increase in goodness and blessings, and Allah never breaks His promises.

Sharfuddin EttaportheyI know a drunkard, who always said, ‘Al-hamdulillah’ even when he hardly recognized the parson, enquiring his health. After a decade, he was a changed man with a nice wife, well behaved children with a house and abundance wealth. Allah keeps His words always.

Sogood Islam SyedsShukr – to be grateful
To make Shukr is to be happy, content and thankful to Allâh Ta`âlâ for whatever He has given us. We should not feel that we have less than others do because some people don’t even have what we have. Allâh Ta`âlâ does not like people who do not make Shukr and are greedy.
Here is a story about a man who learnt to make Shukr.The man with no shoes
There was once a man named Sayed Gulâm. He used to travel on foot from town to town learning and teaching about Islam. After months of travelling, his shoes got torn. He repaired them twice but they could not be mended anymore. As he had no money to buy a pair of shoes, he had to walk barefoot and he felt very sorry for himself. So he went to the Musjid feeling very sad, made Wudhu and sat on the Musallâ. Then he saw a man who had no feet. The man was walking on crutches but he was smiling and greeting everyone happily. Sayed Gulâm felt very ashamed of himself. He said: “I must be grateful to Allâh Ta`âlâ that even though I have no shoes, I still have my feet.

Here again, you get SO much more out of just a little bit of study of the Arabic words used instead of just reading the English translation. Nouman Ali Khan does an amazing job of explaining it. May Allah wa ta’ala continue to bless NAK!

(Quotation marks here usually mean Ustadh Nouman is talking & I’m quoting his words. I also use quotes for Arabic words & phrases and their translation.)

And on to Brother Nouman’s talk: “Allah says Himself, “When your Master declared that even if you are the least bit grateful…” “La’in shakartum…” Allah is saying even if you show a little bit of gratitude… He’s not asking for a lot. “La’azidannakum.” He then says, “I will increase you, increase you, and increase you. I swear to it.” The strongest language possible is used. If you could show the least bit of gratitude.”

“The question is grateful to who? You would think grateful to Allah, but Allah didn’t mention Himself. So it could be grateful to Allah, grateful to your parents, grateful to your teachers, grateful for your health, grateful to friends. Grateful to anyone who’s done anything for you. Grateful to your employer for giving you a job. Appreciative. Grateful is not just an act of saying Alhamdulilah. Grateful is an attitude, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a way of thinking. You’re constantly grateful.”

“But if you could show that attitude in even the least bit, what does Allah say? “La’azidannakum.” “I swear to it, I will increase you. There’s no doubt about it. I swear to it, I will increase you.” Allah doesn’t use “I” normally in Qur’an. He usually uses “We.” It’s only in the most intense cases in the Qur’an that Allah uses “I.” He used “I” here.”

“The question comes up, increase you in what? Because you can say, “Allah, increase me in knowledge, increase me in wisdom, increase me in patience…” We say, “Rabbi zidni ‘ilmaan.”

“Rabbi zidni ‘ilmaan” = رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْما = “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.” This phrase is from Surah al-Ta-ha, Qur’an 20:114. You can also say this in du’a.

“Fa-zadatum imana” = فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانا = “It increased them in faith.” This phrase in found in a number of ayat, including Qur’an 8:2, 3:173, 33:22, and 9:124.

It doesn’t just say He increased them. In this ayah, He says, “You show gratitude, even in the least bit, I will increase you.” Increase you in what? Allah didn’t limit what He will increase you in. That’s the beauty of this ayah. The motivation to be grateful in this ayah is, I will keep giving you more, and more, and more of everything. You think of it, I will give it to you if it’s beneficial for you. I’ll take care of it, I promise. You just show Me gratitude.”

“You know this ayah was actually part of a speech given by Musa (alayhi salaam)? You know he was giving this speech to the Israelites after they had crossed the water. When they had crossed the water, they had memories of their children being slaughtered every other year. These are scarred parents that have traveled, that have seen torture and suffered through so many things. Instead of giving them akhutbah, a sermon, about patience… Because they’re in the desert, you would think Musa (alayhi salaam) would get up and give them a sermon about patience. …He gives them a sermon about gratitude because you will never be able to have patience if you don’t have gratitude. Gratitude comes first. If you can be grateful, Allah will take care of all your needs. And He’ll keep adding more, and more, and more. “La’azidannakum.” “

” “Wa la’in kafartum.” And if you are ungrateful, unappreciative, you can’t see the good in life. Allah could have said “And if you are ungrateful, I will take away from you. I will punish you.” He would use “I” like before. He doesn’t mention it. He says ” ‘inna adhabi lashadid.” “No doubt My punishment is intense.” It sounds like a really harsh ayah, right? But actually, it’s not an if-and-then statement. It’s a nuance of the Arabic language that Allah did notsay “Wa la’in kafartum fa ‘inna adhabi lashadid.” If there was a “fa” (فَ), it means“If you are ungrateful, then My punishment is intense for sure.” There’s no “then.” That means Allah did not make it: “If you’re ungrateful, I will punish you.” It’s not like that. Allah said, “If you are ungrateful. . . dot dot dot.” He’s not even finishing that sentence. He just went to a new sentence. He didn’t connect the two grammatically. And that itself is something we should be grateful for. “If you’re ungrateful. . .” nothing. And then He says, “My punishment is really intense.” Just Him not putting a “fa” there is something we should be eternally grateful for.”

“What a beautiful, beautiful ayah. And what a motivation that Musa (alayhi salaam) gave. It was such a powerful khutbah that he declared to the Bani Israel that He made it part of the Qur’an. May Allah help us learn from the beautiful wisdom of the Qur’an, and make us a grateful people, and see the brighter side in things. Stop being so gloomy and pessimistic all the time. Stop looking at the down side of everything. Stop complaining all the time, stop criticizing everything, stop being so cynical. Be appreciative of the people around you, and your friends, and your teachers, and your school, your health, your physique. Stop complaining that you’re too fat, too short, too skinny. Stop complaining; start being grateful. Stop complaining that you’ve been sick for a week; start being happy that you’re not sicker than so many others. Start being grateful, and Allah will increase, and increase, and increase because that is His promise. May Allah help us all recognize that promise of Allah and qualify us for it.”